


Creepy Calling

by williamastankova



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Confusion, F/M, Mystery, Phone Calls & Telephones, Spanish, TARDIS Rooms, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 19:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16709002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/williamastankova/pseuds/williamastankova
Summary: The Doctor and Rose are startled by a call, from the TARDIS phone they'd all but forgotten they had. When Rose finally knows something the Doctor doesn't - what the person on the other end is saying - she's reluctant to tell him. Where will this lead them?





	Creepy Calling

The TARDIS was an ancient space ship, derived from the Doctor's dark, unspeakable past. It represented everything he was - everything he'd done, everything he'd failed to do. It had been there when he saved the world... and again. It was there as he almost watched it end. It was there when he'd fled from... well, there was no need to dive back into that. It was even there when he met Rose Tyler for the first time, which made it one of the most special things in the entire world. This all being said, the great, colossal, divine, time-bending vehicle it was, it did not often receive phone calls.

There was, of course, the one time it had gotten a call. With the empty children, back in the war, but that was a special case. Being a man of the future (and, come to think of it, a man of the past, and present too. Really, just a man of neverending time would do just fine), the Doctor had installed a telephone. To stay in touch, to stay out of touch, to cure that one boring evening back in 11,200AD. Now, however, it wasn't just a piece of useful garbage around the TARDIS. This time, it was ringing.

"Uh, Doctor?" Rose had intervened in his reading of the paper, "Is that... ringing?"  
He eyed her suspiciously, not having heard it at first, but then, from the back of the ship, he heard what she was talking about. The noise, intrusive and abrasive, forced him to put down the paper, and bring his feet from the top of the control board to the floor. He stood up, tentative, and followed the sound to its source, with Rose not too far behind.

They peered at the machine like prehistoric cave-dwellers. Casting a look over at Rose, catching his bewildered look painted across her pretty eyes and furrowed brow, then picked up the phone, holding it up between the two of them.  
"Hello?" He spoke, voice less bouncy than usual, but still with a jovial hint.

The other line remained silent for another few seconds, leaving the Doctor and Rose tipping over the edge of anticipation. Then, the malevolent magic broke, and a woman spoke on the other end. In an unintelligible language, she made a statement, and the Doctor nearly broke the phone off of the wire as he comically jumped back, rather like a cat hissing at a potential threat.  
"It's impossible!" He yelped.

Rose eyed him, unsure of how to react, "What's impossible, Doctor?"  
"That, just that!" He shook the phone in his hand, talking rather unhelpfully, "It's a curse; it has to be."  
"What are you on about?"  
The Doctor breathed, then explained, "I don't understand what she said. The TARDIS always translates for me. Something has to be terribly, horribly wrong for it not to work. Ergo, it has to be a curse! Stand back, Rose, for your own sake."

Rose stopped briefly, then sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "You know, for a genius, you ain't half an idiot." She regained her composure, and stretched out her arm, "Hand it over."  
"Are you mad?" He nearly felt his eyes pop out of his head, "It'll kill you!"  
"No, it won't." It was her turn to explain now, "Because it's not a curse - it's Spanish."  
"Spanish?"  
"Spanish." She confirmed with a nod, then took the phone from his hand and raised it to her ear, and spoke, slowly but not patronisingly, "Say that again, please?"

The woman spoke again, and Rose repeated it to the Doctor as the words came.  
"Vais... a... estar... enamorado."

As she finished, her face flushed the colour of her namesake. Quickly, rather abruptly, she hung up, and avoided the Doctor's hovering gaze.  
"Not even so much as an adios." He tried to make her crack a smile, but only received a dismissive shake of her head. "Rose? What did she say?"  
"You..." She half-heartedly attempted an excuse, but realised she didn't need one. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

The Doctor knew he had cause for concern when he saw her false-hope smile. He'd only seen it a handful of times, but he could recognise it, and it never failed to worry him deeply. However, on top of this, he knew not to bug her when she feigned said smile, because that only made her feel even worse - like she was lying to him, when she should always be honest. So, he changed the subject.  
"Why did the TARDIS not translate it?"

Rose shook her head, slower this time, indicating a calmer feeling. "I dunno. Maybe it messed up, or didn't want to, or something." She finally looked at him, dark eyes more penetrating than ever, "Do you know what it meant?"

The Doctor couldn't suppress a sigh. "Well, considering I've never had to learn Spanish, I'm going to go with no."  
The little eye roll she supplied him with was promising, like she was finally coming back to him, topped off with a cheeky half-grin. "Alright, I did it for my GCSEs. Got a C."

"I'm proud of you." He teased.  
"Oh, I bet you are." She playfully replied, then finally kicked back into action, "So, what's next?"

"I just finished reading up on the current news, which means it's time to move on."  
"Of course." She beamed at him, "Onwards and upwards?"  
"Onwards and upwards." He confirmed.

So maybe he didn't know what the woman had said, nor why Rose had reacted as she had, but as long as they were together for now, he supposed that could wait until later.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering making this a multi-chapter thing but I'll wait to hear anything back before I mark it as an unfinished series. Good thing this chapter can be read as a one-shot!
> 
> (Maybe) see you on the flip side :)


End file.
